Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Trump Organization Convicted in Executive Tax Dodge Scheme
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
December 6, 2022

Share

Donald Trump’s company was convicted of tax fraud Tuesday for helping executives dodge taxes on lavish perks such as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars, in a significant repudiation of financial practices at the former president’s business.

A jury found two corporate entities at the Trump Organization guilty on all 17 counts, including conspiracy charges and falsifying business records. Trump himself was not on trial. The verdict came on the second day of deliberations.

The conviction is a validation for New York prosecutors, who have spent three years investigating the former president and his businesses.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the verdict “underscores that in Manhattan we have one standard of justice for all.”

As punishment, the Trump Organization could be fined up to $1.6 million — a relatively small amount for a company of its size, though the conviction might make some of its future deals more complicated.

Trump, who recently announced he was running for president again, has said the case against his company was part of a politically motivated “witch hunt.” Speaking outside the courthouse, Trump Organization lawyer Alan Futerfas vowed to appeal.

The verdict adds to already mounting legal woes for Trump, who faces a criminal investigation in Washington over the retention of top secret documents at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, as well as efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Those inquiries are being led by a newly named Justice Department special counsel. The district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, is also leading an investigation into attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn his loss in that state.

While Trump himself was not charged, the verdict marks yet another setback for the former president, who has faced a series of self-inflicted crises since launching his third campaign for the White House last month.

That includes anger over his dinner with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and the antisemitic rapper formerly known as Kanye West and an authoritarian call by Trump for the “termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution” to address his baseless claims of mass election fraud.

The Manhattan district attorney’s case against the Trump Organization was built largely around testimony from the company’s former finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, who previously pleaded guilty to charges that he manipulated the company’s books and his own compensation package to illegally reduce his taxes.

Weisselberg testified in exchange for a promised five-month jail sentence.

To convict the Trump Organization, prosecutors had to convince jurors that Weisselberg or his subordinate, Senior Vice President and Controller Jeffrey McConney, were “high managerial” agents acting on the company’s behalf and that the company also benefited from his scheme.

Trump Organization lawyers repeated the mantra “Weisselberg did it for Weisselberg” throughout the monthlong trial. They contended the executive had gone rogue and betrayed the company’s trust. No one in the Trump family or the company was to blame, they argued.

After Tuesday’s verdict, a company lawyer, Susan Necheles, repeated that argument.

“Why would a corporation whose owner knew nothing about Weisselberg’s personal tax returns be criminally prosecuted for Allen Weisselberg’s personal conduct, for which they had no visibility or oversight? This case was unprecedented and legally incorrect,” she said.

Though he testified as a prosecution witness, Weisselberg also attempted to take responsibility on the witness stand, saying nobody in the Trump family knew what he was doing.

“It was my own personal greed that led to this,” an emotional Weisselberg testified.

Manhattan prosecutors alleged the former president “knew exactly what was going on” with the scheme, though he and the company’s lawyers have denied that.

Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to dodging taxes on $1.7 million in fringe benefits, testified that he and McConney conspired to hide that extra compensation from his income by deducting their cost from his pre-tax salary and issuing falsified W-2 forms.

During his closing argument, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass attempted to refute the claim that Trump knew nothing about the scheme. He showed jurors a lease Trump signed for Weisselberg’s company-paid apartment and a memo Trump initialed authorizing a pay cut for another executive who got perks.

“Mr. Trump is explicitly sanctioning tax fraud,” Steinglass argued.

The verdict doesn’t end Trump’s battle with Bragg, a Democrat who took office in January.

The D.A. has said that a related investigation of the former president that began under his predecessor, District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., is “active and ongoing.”

In that wide-ranging probe, investigators have examined whether Trump misled banks and others about the value of his real estate holdings, golf courses and other assets — allegations at the heart of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ pending lawsuit against the former president and his company.

The district attorney’s office has also investigated whether any state laws were broken when Trump’s allies made payments to two women who claimed to have had sexual affairs with the Republican years ago.

Near the end of his tenure last year, Vance directed deputies to present evidence to a grand jury for a possible indictment of Trump. After taking office, though, Bragg let that grand jury disband so he could give the case a fresh look.

On Monday, he confirmed that a new lead prosecutor had been brought on to handle that investigation, signaling again that it was still active.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Will California Meet Newsom’s 2035 EV Deadline? It Won’t Even Hit the 2026 Target 

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Putin May Not Want Peace and May Need to Be ‘Dealt With Differently’

DON'T MISS

Is It Bad to Chew Gum All Day?

DON'T MISS

Dollar Doubts Dominate Gathering of Global Economic Leaders

DON'T MISS

US Judge Temporarily Stops West Texas Immigrant Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act

DON'T MISS

Shedeur Sanders’ Long Wait Ends When Browns Take Him in the 5th Round of the NFL Draft

DON'T MISS

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

DON'T MISS

ICE Deports the Mother of an Infant and a 2-Year-Old Who Is a US Citizen

DON'T MISS

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

DON'T MISS

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

UP NEXT

Selma Mayor Charged With Electioneering Violation on Election Day

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Arrest 17 in Domestic Violence Crackdown

UP NEXT

Visalia Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for 2019 Fatal Stabbing

UP NEXT

Fresno Man Arrested in 2004 Cold Case Rape and Murder

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Willie Ray Butler

UP NEXT

Fresno County Traffic Stop Leads to $600K Cocaine Bust

UP NEXT

Exclusive: US Congress Republicans Seek $27 Billion for Golden Dome in Trump Tax Bill

UP NEXT

Fresno Man Tased, Arrested After Suspected Reckless DUI in Kerman

UP NEXT

Madera Vehicle Burglary Leads to Arrests, Gang Charges for Juveniles

UP NEXT

Beware of Scammers Saying You Won the Publishers Clearing House Drawing

Dollar Doubts Dominate Gathering of Global Economic Leaders

17 hours ago

US Judge Temporarily Stops West Texas Immigrant Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act

18 hours ago

Shedeur Sanders’ Long Wait Ends When Browns Take Him in the 5th Round of the NFL Draft

18 hours ago

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

21 hours ago

ICE Deports the Mother of an Infant and a 2-Year-Old Who Is a US Citizen

21 hours ago

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

21 hours ago

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

21 hours ago

Israel’s AI Experiments in the War in Gaza Raise Ethical Concerns

21 hours ago

Paul Skenes Strikes Out 9, Wins Duel With Yamamoto in Pirates’ Victory Over Dodgers

22 hours ago

Eovaldi Outlasts Verlander as Rangers Beat Giants

22 hours ago

Will California Meet Newsom’s 2035 EV Deadline? It Won’t Even Hit the 2026 Target 

It was with brash confidence that Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that by 2035, the only new cars and light trucks sold in California would be e...

1 hour ago

1 hour ago

Will California Meet Newsom’s 2035 EV Deadline? It Won’t Even Hit the 2026 Target 

16 hours ago

Trump Says Putin May Not Want Peace and May Need to Be ‘Dealt With Differently’

17 hours ago

Is It Bad to Chew Gum All Day?

17 hours ago

Dollar Doubts Dominate Gathering of Global Economic Leaders

18 hours ago

US Judge Temporarily Stops West Texas Immigrant Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act

18 hours ago

Shedeur Sanders’ Long Wait Ends When Browns Take Him in the 5th Round of the NFL Draft

21 hours ago

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

21 hours ago

ICE Deports the Mother of an Infant and a 2-Year-Old Who Is a US Citizen

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend